Hollywood Genius

We often regard the most beautiful and intelligent people as born under a lucky star. However it is solemnly the case, as the Venuses of this world are rarely lucky and their lives are usually clouded with misfortune. Despite having the beauty, grace and intelligence that most would die for, they often suffer tragic lives.

This is the case of Hollywood star Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler, known as Hedy Lamarr. Hereby are the things you never knew about this gorgeous legend:

• She was married to a wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer.
• After her 1993 movie,   Ecstasy she fled from her husband, and hid in Paris.
• Louis B. Mayer, gave her, her first Hollywood break.
• In 1960, she got her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. 
• Lamarr played the lead in the highest-grossing film of 1950 Samson and Delilah which won two Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.
• Lamarr opened her own production company with Jack Chertok but her movies  The Strange Woman & Dishonored Lady went over budget and made minor profits.
• Lamarr was a self-taught, inventor who has been behind many inventions such improved traffic stoplight , a tablet that would dissolve in water to create a carbonated beverage, a radio guidance system ,  Bluetooth technology similar to methods used in legacy versions of Wi-Fi
• She dated  aviation tycoon Howard Hughes, who supported her inventive to the extent of putting his team of scientists and engineers at her disposal, in order to execute anything she asked for.
• She relentlessly wanted to join and offer her services to the  National Inventors Council. She succeeded in her quest, and in 1997, she was awarded the Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award and the Bulbie Gnass Spirit of Achievement Bronze Award. She was featured on the Science Channel, the Discovery Channel and was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
• Lamarr married and divorced six times and had three children of which one she claimed was adopted during her marriage to Gene Markey. It later turned out that she had lied, her son James Lamarr Markey/Loder was the out-of-wedlock son with actor John Loder whom she later married. Her lies tarnished her relationship with son, James Lamarr Loder, to the point that he moved in with another family. They remained in conflict for over 50 years and she ended up leaving him out of her will.
• Lamarr was arrested twice for shoplifting, in 1991, it was attributed to depression as she failed to return to the screen.
• In the last decades of her life, the telephone became Lamarr’s only means of communication with the outside world, even with her children and close friends. She often talked up to six or seven hours a day on the phone, but she spent hardly any time with anyone in person in her final years. A documentary, Calling Hedy Lamarr, was released in 2004 and featured her children, Anthony Loder and Denise Loder-DeLuca.
• In her final years Lamarr turned to seclusion and stepped away from her children and friends. She opted for telecommunication rather than face to face encounters. According to a documentary, Calling Hedy Lamarr, which featured her children, Anthony Loder and Denise Loder-DeLuca, she reportedly used to talk six to seven hours a day on the phone.

Some stars are born to shine and when their light goes dim, they just can’t survive. Lamarr couldn’t cope with being seen as anything other than a ravishing beauty with a genius flair. Her wild spirit and arrogance were too big for Hollywood who failed to give her the recognition she deserved.

Magical Lips

Alexis Fraser is a talented painter with an original painting method. She labels herself as a Kiss Artist, meaning she uses her lips to paint. She started her career in 2011, when a client of hers commissioned a Monroe painting done solely with lips imprint.  She  was successful.

She basically, paints by number, sketches out her process in order to identify the areas that need more kisses and manipulates the pigment with her brush.

Her paintings aren’t only kiss prints, she completes the piece with her skillful drawing.

Her lips do get soar after working for a while on a certain piece, however Alexis’ passion helps her maintain a high stamina.

When the piece is completed she seals it with epoxy to protect it from smudging, fading and UV damage.

Alexis Fraser aka Lipstick Lex is one of the few kiss artists out there. Her nontraditional artwork’s mission is to spread love, feel good vibes and positive energy.

The Real Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional private detective created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. He is the father of forensic science, as he always uses science and attention to details to solve murder cases.

Behind this fictional character stands, Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, a genius physician and British writer acclaimed mostly for his fifty crime fiction stories featuring the captivating character: Sherlock Holmes. Although he was the author of historical, spiritual and fictional stories, Holmes remains his most celebrated one.

Hereby some facts that you didn’t know about Conan Doyle:

• Conan Doyle came from a highly artistic background. His father as well as uncles were artists.
• Conan studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School and practical botany at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.
• Doyle was a loyal man, he remained married to Louisa Hawkin, his first wife, despite falling in love with another. He maintained a platonic relationship with his second wife-to-be Jean Elizabeth Leckie while his first wife was still alive. In 1907, after the death of his first wife, he married Jean Elizabeth Leckie.
• A Study in Scarlet was originally named Tangled Skein, however after several rejections, it was renamed. Published in 1887, it was written in 1886, the story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in popular fiction.
• All of Doyle’s children died, from health issues, at a young age.
• Conan was obsessed with justice as his protagonist, Sherlock was. He often investigated cases that he believed were faulty. Thanks to his analytical skills and forensic savoir-faire, he successfully exonerated innocent people that were wrongfully convicted.
• He was initiated as a Freemason (in 1887) but left it for good in 1911.
• Conan Doyle believed in the paranormal, that the spirit of the dead continued to exist and were reachable by the living. He believed in the existence of fairies.
• Conan Doyle played sports in his lifetime. His favorite sport was cricket.
• In 1900, he ran for parliament twice in Edinburgh but failed to be elected.
• He despised Sherlock Holmes and thought that he was taking all the attention away from his other features. He tried sabotaging Sherlock Holmes by asking extortionate fees from publishers, but failed as they were happy to pay.
• A square was named after him in Meiringen, Switzerland, where the scene of The Adventure of the Final Problem took place.
• He said to have died in 7 July 1930 in his garden, after whispering to his wife: “You are wonderful.”

Whether you like Sherlock Holmes or not, you can’t but admire his acute sense of observation and analytical skills as well as his intense sense of pride. Conan might not have been a fan of the detective but in essence he was his alter-ego.

Legendary Characters

We always talk about the best films and highlight complex personas that unveil the layers of their personalities in a brief movie. But we often overlook TV series characters that develop in every episode. Like actual people, you see them grow and morph into the authentic version of themselves. Always true to who they are but forever maturing. Like fire to gold, days burn their souls, reshaping them, without being able to change them.

In this article, we pay tribute to the legendary characters that were written to perfection. Those who never leave you insensitive to their heroism, perils nor their inner-demons. We invite you to discover our all-time favorites.

Supernatural

This unforgettable series is about the thrilling adventures of two exceptional brothers Sam and Dean Winchester, who face an increasingly sinister landscape as they hunt monsters. Raised by a father taunted by the loss of his wife to a demon, the two boys were heavily trained in the art of war in order to be able to defend themselves and track malefic creatures.  It is always them against the world. They bravely face relationship-threatening secrets, betrayals and extreme ordeal as they track evil, in an ultimate quest of keeping earth a safe place.

This family , the love that the big brother has for his youngster, is stuff of legends so much so that it makes you envy Sam, despite the ravaging life he endures. The level of selflessness, stoic heroism and unmatchable love depicted by Dean Winchester, is so moving, that most viewers, if given the chance, would gladly take on monsters, risk their lives, for the chance of having a “Dean Winchester” in their life.

The ironic thing about Dean Winchester is that: Even his worst enemies are not left indifferent by his courage, his selflessness, his nobility and his puzzling love for his kid brother, who is his only weakness.

Brotherhood has shed many ink before, with movies and TV series highlighting characters willing to risk it all for their brother or loved one or friend, however none were written with that extent of manly passion, stoicism, and nobility. It’s with an unflinching bravery that Dean Winchester. sacrifices his life over and over again always prioritizing the safety of Sam Winchester.

Dean Winchester is the kind of hero that walks heavily, with the crushing weight of the world upon his shoulders and a lingering sense of disappointment in his heart. Unable to let anything go, he only sees the world in shades of black and white, that is why he always seems to welcome death with opened arms and a big sense of relief.

His crippling sense of Internal Locus of Control is so acute that anything and everything is his fault. Despite it all, Dean Winchester always puts on a brave face, as he knows that regardless of how old his brother gets, he will always be that small kid watching his big brother’s every move, in great admiration.

Every exception Dean Winchester makes, every internal rule he breaks, every risk he takes, he does it solely for his brother and for that, all his mistakes, all his flaws are easily forgivable.

Sam Winchester, shares the same love for his brother. He might not be as relentless and as protective as his eldest but he doesn’t only love him as his sibling but also as a father as well.

Several scenes between the two can take one’s breath away. They always manage to surprise viewers. One can never get accustomed to how far Dean Winchester is willing to go to keep his brother safe, simply because without him, life cease to have any meaning.

I, especially, like how despite their righteousness, they are willing to bend the rules of life for each other. They might be willing to do the impossible to keep people safe but they would let the world burn, if it meant saving one another. It is the fact that, they are the exception to all their rules that makes them so endearing.

La Femme Nikita

Nikita, a homeless delinquent, gets framed by the government for killing a policeman during a robbery that went wrong. When offered the choice between joining Section One, a secret government organization, and getting a life sentence in prison, she reluctantly accepts the offer. Trained, by an emotionless, pragmatic Michael, to be an elite assassin, she quickly develops into an excellent agent immersed in a fight against international terrorism.

The best part of this series is the mesmerizing struggle of a moral person, placed in an immoral setting, yet able to keep his integrity intact.

The ravaging blaze of Nikita’s honorable sense of ethics, quickly melts the cold heart of the unmovable Michael turning him into her guardian angel. Forever present, always risking his own demise just to save his rebellious and often impulsive trainee. Michael finds himself going against his own nature, breaking all his rules, revealing his secrets and vulnerability, risking not only his own life but also his future.

The chemistry between them is captivating, Nikita is the pulse of Michael’s dead heart, whilst he is her breath, always there to breathe life into her when she is on the verge of desperation and suicide. When all is lost, he swoops in and saves the day. When Michael looks at Nikita, his icy eyes, glow with an uncontrollable emotion, able to lid the deepest darkness. Their relationship could easily symbolize the torments of a good soul forced to go against its nature to survive. Nikita is a tornado of emotions whilst Michael is the unmovable wise man: She is the volcano of fire whilst he is an arctic storm. They might seem extreme opposites but truth is they are soulmates, completing each other in every way even beauty wise.

We strongly advise you to check-out these series. With quotes raging from: “As Long As I’m Around, Nothing Bad Is Gonna Happen To You, There ain’t no me if there ain’t no you” (Supernatural) and “I don’t know what love is anymore, but the only part of me that isn’t dead is you” (La Femme Nikita), we guarantee you a crescendo of emotions. You’ll experience: heroism, love, dedication and nobility in all its shapes and forms.

These heroes might be tormented souls who struggle with accepting life for what it is, and they might not be saints, but you will never find more captivating heroes, more courageous characters willing to go against the current even if they are no match for it. They are the exceptional type of people that will keep on clashing with an obstacle long enough and hard enough until breaking it, in order to get to a loved one, even if it meant their death.  The mere fact that these stoic beings become beyond vulnerable when it comes to their loved one and that they break all their rules for “one” person, is what makes them captivating and legendary.